By Randi Altman
The Netflix documentary Will & Harper follows actor Will Ferrell and former SNL head author Harper Steele as the 2 outdated associates embark on a cross-country highway journey, reconnecting for the primary time since Steele’s transition to a girl. It’s emotional and heartbreaking and humorous, and Emmy voters agreed. The doc earned 5 nominations, together with Excellent Authentic Music and Lyrics for its title tune, “Harper and Will Go West.”
The tune’s writers — Sean Douglas (music/lyrics), Kristen Wiig (music/lyrics) and Josh Greenbaum (lyrics) — have been all nominated, with Greenbaum additionally acknowledged for steering the undertaking.
Sean Douglas
We not too long ago spoke to Douglas to seek out out extra concerning the group’s course of…
This doc is humorous, however it might additionally make you cry, one thing that’s mirrored within the tune. Was that half troublesome, strolling that line between poignant and humorous?
Sure, I believe a part of what’s so great concerning the film is that it’s mild and foolish one second and heavy and deeply emotional the subsequent — and the transitions between these states are so pure. Whereas writing the tune, we labored so much on getting our personal steadiness of humorous strains and extra honest ones. It was essential to Kristen particularly, having a detailed private relationship to Will and Harper, to honor Harper’s emotional journey and vulnerability. I’ve all the time liked songs which can be humorous however not a joke, and I believe writing them effectively is deceptively troublesome, so it was a very satisfying problem.
How did you get there? Stroll us via your course of when it comes to the lyrics and the music.
The movie is many issues, however above all, it’s a highway journey film. Two vacationers are heading west into unknown emotional territory, so I heard it as an upbeat, Americana-inspired people tune. When Kristen and Josh came visiting to put in writing, I had an thought for the refrain, which opens with “Harper and Will go west. Only a couple outdated associates and a pair brand-new breasts.” I used to be nervous singing that, partly as a result of I didn’t need to appear too flippant concerning the critical emotional course of Harper had gone via, but additionally as a result of I used to be pitching a joke line to Kristen Wiig, one of many funniest individuals alive.
However I believe the way in which the refrain ends — “A pal is a pal is a pal until the tip” — balanced the refrain in a method that made it work. Then we dove into the verses, simply attempting to color a portrait of two associates who have been partnered up on this journey. I’m unsure how granular to get right here, however co-writing like this was slightly improvisational. I used to be on the piano, and Kristen would sing a line, and I’d sing one which hopefully complemented that till we had the form of it. Then we’d return and get extra meticulous about melodic phrasing. As soon as we had the verses, we went again into the choruses in order that just a few of the strains within the center would have completely different payoffs. The very last thing we did was the jazzy bridge, which is clearly ridiculous. Nevertheless it was enjoyable to do the silliest half after we had gotten our homework performed with the opposite sections.
What instrument did you begin writing on?
We knew the tune would characteristic a stringed, folky instrument like guitar, mandolin or ukulele. Kristen performs ukulele, and we favored that concept as a result of it felt mild. My essential instrument is piano, although, so we wrote it there first. I approximated the strum sample I had in thoughts on the piano, and later we changed it with a guitar/ukulele hybrid.
What have been a number of the conversations like as you went alongside? Did you guys get any off-camera notes from Will and Harper?
We talked so much concerning the movie, clearly. And there was loads of dialogue about how lots of the guidelines tune traits Will and Harper ran via within the movie we should always try to incorporate within the tune (slightly nation, humorous however brings a tear to your eye, jazzy, catchy, makes you suppose, and so forth.). Ultimately, I believe we hit most of them indirectly.
The tune is an enormous a part of the doc, they usually have been hoping to have it through the journey, but it surely wasn’t prepared till after they made it to California. Did you are feeling stress to get it performed shortly, and the way did that assist or harm?
I believe we undoubtedly felt stress, partially as a result of they have been attempting to wrap up publish on this film, and the tune was the ultimate aspect. Additionally, we had simply watched this actually compelling, shifting story, the place they’d each bared their souls, so we felt stress to honor that in our small method.
What devices and kit did you utilize to document the tune?
Whereas a lot of the tune was written in a day, Kristen and Josh got here again to my quite simple dwelling studio for a second day to tighten up a pair strains and document Kristen’s vocals. I began to document her on a Manley black condenser mic, after which partway via it began making this crackle sound. (No shade to Manley! Most likely my fault, in case the nice individuals there need to ship me any gear!) So we switched to a Shure SM7B, which is an unfussy, kinda bomb-proof mic that all the time sounds good. After that, I changed my piano with a hybrid of a guitar and ukulele, creatively named guitalele. My pal, the good Pierre-Luc Rioux, performed that for me.
Why do you are feeling it resonated with Emmy voters?
Ha! I can’t actually say. I hope it’s as a result of we achieved what we got down to do, which is write slightly tribute/anthem for these two courageous characters. Possibly as a result of individuals really feel the identical sense of solidarity with marginalized communities, below hearth as they’re proper now, that our tune was attempting to precise. Or it might be the luggage of money I’ve been dropping by voters’ properties in latest months.
